The medical profession may recommend the use of an individual with a back injury or potential back problem to use an exoskeleton structural support apparatus to alleviate the strain and provide relief to the back. The apparatus can immobilize and support the spine when there is a condition that needs to be treated. Depending on the apparatus used, it can put the spine in a neutral, upright, hyper-extended, flexed, or lateral-flexed position. An exoskeleton structural support apparatus can be used to control pain, lessen the chance of further injury, allow healing to take place, compensate for muscle weakness, or prevent or correct a deformity. They offer a safe, relatively inexpensive, non-invasive way to prevent future problems or to help an individual heal from a current condition. The use of exoskeleton structural support apparatus which are commonly termed “braces” is widely accepted and is an effective tool in the treatment of back disorders. In fact, more than 99% of orthopedic physicians advocate using braces as there is a high potential benefit and little downside risk of the individual wearing the brace. In fact, historically braces have been used as far back as 2000 B.C. Recently, braces have become a popular way to help prevent primary and secondary lower back pain from ever occurring or reoccurring.
The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) cites injuries to the upper, middle, and lower back as the most common reason for absenteeism in the general workforce after the common cold. It is estimated that about 80% of adults in North America can expect a back injury in their lifetime and about 10% can expect a re-injury. Back injuries can develop gradually as a result of micro-trauma brought about by repetitive activity over a period time or a single traumatic event. Back injuries can be the immediate result of improper lifting techniques and/or lifting loads that are too heavy for the back to support or brought on by repetitive lifting of lighter loads.
While an acute injury may seem to be caused by a single well-defined incident, OSHA states that the actual cause can be from a series of micro traumas coupled by years of weakening of the muscular-skeletal support system by repetitive lifting and bending, being the most hidden type of injury. Injuries can arise in muscles, ligaments, vertebras, and discs, either singly or in combination. Although back injuries do not cause death, they do account for a significant loss in productivity, income, and expenses plus the physical suffering. For some, the pain and suffering is long-term or even lifelong. For individuals with long-term, disabling musculoskeletal injuries, lifetime earnings may drop significantly. These individuals may also suffer a loss of independence due to a restricted ability to ambulate or complete daily tasks such as cooking, cleaning, bathing, dressing, and the like that can lead to a diminished quality of life and depression.
OSHA cites back injuries in the United States as one of the leading causes of workplace absenteeism and disability; it afflicts over 600,000 employees each year with a cost of about $50 billion in lost productivity and medical costs. In addition, one to five percent of this group will suffer chronic back pain that lasts six months or longer. The frequency and economic impact of back injuries on the work force are expected to increase significantly over the next several decades as the age of the working population increases and the cost of healthcare escalates, thus intensifying the problem. For those under the age of 45, back pain is the most frequent cause of activity limitation. Although 80% to 90% of individuals will recover from back pain within three to six days of their injury, the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that $31 million will be spent on physician office visits and $20 billion on prescription drugs—and only three percent of that total cost will go to prevention of back pain.
Thus, it is clear that there is a great need in the art for an improved method and system for providing active support to the upper, middle, and lower back to assist in bending, lifting, and standing to prevent injury while avoiding the shortcomings and drawbacks of the prior art apparatuses and methodologies as reviewed in the following section.